Pundit tips Arsenal for shock defeat to West Ham after big injury blow

Mark Lawrenson has tipped West Ham to land a surprise blow on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Boxing Day, claiming the loss of Gabriel Jesus will prove vital.

The Gunners currently sit five points clear of Manchester City at the head of the table, and have looked thoroughly impressive domestically so far, but they will need to deal with their return to action after a break without their main attacking outlet in Jesus.

The Brazilian suffered an injury in training whilst at the World Cup in Qatar, and has no return date pencilled in at present, which is a cause for concern for the home side. Lawrenson goes as far as to claim that they could suffer their first home defeat since New Years Day.

“Gabriel Jesus is out for a while and that will be a big loss for Arsenal,” he told PP News.

“I’m going to go for an upset here and go 2-1 to West Ham. All that momentum that Arsenal built up before the World Cup counts for nothing now because of the layoff.

“I just think that David Moyes would have taken the break as a pre season and he will have worked them really hard so I’ll go with the upset.”

I’m not quite sure how much thought he has put into this decision, but given that West Ham have their own injury issues to deal with, on top of the fact that they have struggled to win many games throughout the campaign thus far. We have won without Jesus however, and I would be surprised if we was to suffer such an untimely defeat.

Is anyone else overly worried about the Boxing Day clash?

Patrick

Tags Mark Lawrenson

25 Comments

  1. I am quite worried about Jesus’s absence because of the quality of his hold up play, dribbling, pressing, vision, and strength. Those are 5 important attributes he provides our game play with upfront.

    Nketiah’s hold-up play is not so impressive, he can get shrugged off the ball easily by defenders.

    His dribbling is not so good either.

    He does well with his pressing from the front.

    He lacks quality vision for a pass in the final third because he is more of a poacher type of striker.

    He is not as strong as Jesus to worry the opponent’s defenders.

    So Jesus is going to be a big miss that might upset the balance the team had in the first half of the season.

    Jesus, Partey, and Saliba are the rock and pinnacle of the success of our team.

    Hopefully, I pray they find a way to still perform brilliantly without Jesus up front.

    1. I agree re Jesus/Nketiah. I’m worried for the season as well now.

      But I think we’d still do well with a back four of Tierney/Zinchenko, Gabriel, White, Tomi.

  2. I’m more worried about the absence of Saliba than Jesus. I’m more confident in covering attack than our defence.

      1. Let’s pray that the coach will find mechanism of utilizing his cannon,we have martineli who can play the role of a striker and his place be taken by E Smith Rowe or this young Brazilian who I think can play both sides (how I see it anyway).

  3. The constant bickering from pundits certainly does not inspire confidence, Paul Merson claim Wolves at the bottom of the table would not sign Eddie if they had a chance even with the team desperately in needs of goals.
    That’s like the ultimate disrespect.

    Maybe that’s just what the lad needs to put his best foot forward.
    Saliba should be just fine, but Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes works well in the pass so we shouldn’t have an issue in defense.

    West Ham is a good team with some really good players, they made five to six changes the last time we meet and gave us a run for our money, they are bit low on confidence now but would see this fixture as the ideal one to get back on track.

    We need to hit them hard and early, take the game to them the minute the whistle goes off.

    1. Paul Mersons correct because as you said Wolves are desperate for goals
      We still dont know If Eddie can consistently score goals at this level
      So I agree , If Wolves brought Eddie , I wouldn’t suddenly think Wolves were safe

      1. That’s a terrible low blow to throw at the lad, logically speaking he may not inspire confidence though , but some will argue he hasn’t given enough chance to see exactly what he can do.

        But what happens to the back end of last season, when he was banging in a couple goals, just trying to lay out a fact here.
        Also saw some recent clippings or highlights and he did looks sharp and ready.
        Had notice both the gaffer and Xhaka came out in strong support of him, am not trying to argue a case here for him am just wondering if they are things we might be overlooking in handling down our judgment.

        For added insurance, some interesting information coming out of Spain, it seems Athletic Madrid ready to do business with Joe Felix in a loan with option form once we are willing to cover his salary and pay a fee of £8 mil,

        Now Joe Felix is a very capable Jesus replacement and could do well while Jesus get adequate time to recover without rushing him back, though I would prefer someone in Scamacca mould as a permanent acquisition.

        1. @Gunsmoke, Merse is just stating the obvious! Dont be fooled by what you saw at the tail end of last season, we’ve been here before. Eddie will disappoint AGAIN. We all know He’s not a prolific scorer neither can he do what GJ does! Julian Alvarez had a shorter time to adjust and is already a force.

  4. This is a confused pundit. You tip Arsenal to fail against the Hammers because we lost a striker. Yet this same
    Westham has their two strikers in Scamacca and Antonio out injured as well.
    How are you able to think they are better than we are?

    1. @jo-gunz…. I just dnt get it, like we were not winning b4 jesus came, we beat Westham last season and they were better than now. We beat some big teams last season without jesus, all of a sudden arsenal is shit without him

  5. Principalities and powers that arsenal wrestle against are not just spiritual, but physical enemies in the form of pundits

  6. (ADMIN COMMENT – I’ve emailed you Patrick as this comment is too good, and should be an article in itself….)

  7. I can see Martinelli up top, Saka right and Nketiah on the left, that wouldn’t be a bad call. We also have ESR who can play left, thats without any new signings.

  8. Why are some people getting their knickers in a twist due to the opinions of a fellow human being who is trying to justify his job by providing shock value at Arsenal’s expense?

    Gabriel Jesus is a huge loss for the team, however I don’t believe for a minute that the title race is over, or even the potential for Champions League qualification. The gaffer will simply make adjustments to the style of play and addition of personnel if needed, and the transfer market is one option in that regard.

    Calm down – and let us continue to support the Arsenal!

    1. I dont get my knickers in a twist over what he is seeing, he is entitled to his view. If you or anyone doesn’t like it, ignore it. SIMPLES!!!

      1. Who are you to claim we should ignore it if we dont like it?!! We all have the right to challenge any view. To state otherwise is to try being a dictator!

        You may choose to ignore posts and that is fine but others may choose not to ignore posts and that too is fine.

        Its called freedom to choose, FYI!

        1. Not when you are as selfish as you fox. And my advise was to any other normal human being, that if they dont like others opinion they should respect it and challenge it. Not try to destroy it like you do because you cant respect opinion.

      2. Reggie, don’t be the outsider weeping louder than the bereaved. My comment was not directed at YOU or anyone else in particular, so take a chill pill. Fin.

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